The state Assembly has two good reasons to reconvene Monday. The one getting all the attention this week is the bail reform bills for which Gov. Chris Christie is clamoring, and which brought legislators to Trenton Thursday at the governor’s behest. But no vote was immediately taken.

The second, and arguably more important, is to approve a measure that would ask voters to consider establishing a permanent source of open-space funding the state desperately needs. The Senate already has overwhelmingly backed that initiative, and the Assembly should do the same. Monday is the deadline to take action and get it on the November ballot, but there are no guarantees that Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto will even bother posting it.

New Jersey has nearly exhausted its funding for open-space preservation, which means the state will have no more money to devote to keeping farmland and other green spaces away from developers. That’s unacceptable in a state as densely populated as New Jersey, especially considering voters have enthusiastically supported preservation for decades, accepting increased open-space taxes and bonding measures even in difficult economic times. The last occasion was in 2009, when voters approved borrowing $400 million to keep the preservation funds flowing, but that money is all but used up.

What should make the current proposal even more inviting to voters, however, is that it involves no new money or tax hikes. Sponsored by Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, and Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman, R-Somerset, the bill proposes a constitutional amendment calling for the 4 percent of the Corporate Business Tax that currently goes to environmental programs to be primarily devoted to preservation – an estimated $71 million annually. That percentage would increase to 6 percent of revenue after five years.

While the total amount of funding available for open space would fall short of typical past spending, it would at least eliminate uncertainty about a continued source of revenue. It’s also far better than nothing — which is what New Jersey will be left with if this measure doesn’t get to the ballot.

Lawmakers owe it to voters to give New Jerseyans the choice, and a successful referendum in November appears likely. In June, Smith, Bateman and other supporters were touting a voter survey that showed strong majority — and bipartisan — support for the amendment.

The Assembly’s hesitancy is baffling, and it also doesn’t help that Christie hasn’t said much of anything to indicate his potential support. The Legislature allowed two open-space funding proposals to die last year — one a plan to dedicate a slice of sales taxes to the cause, the other a bond referendum — and now time and options have run out.

The amendment should be on the November ballot, and if it appears there, we would urge voters to support it. There’s no other option at the moment for New Jersey to properly continue its preservation efforts.